'Kalle Wallner' is a busy guitarist between 'RPWL' (last album here) and participation in the album of 'Yogi Lang' (see here) and after 'Liquid' released in 2016, the German released a new studio album 'Preaching to the Choir' with his group 'Blind Ego', 2017 having seen the release of a very nice live show (see here). With this formation 'Kalle Wallner' allows himself to get out of the neo-progressive rock of 'RPWL' and although some titles approach it, other compositions are a little more energetic and flirt with what one could call du energetic rock often at the limit of hard-rock.
It is also with the first title 'Massive' that we have a first glimpse of a rock with saturated guitar riffs and a rhythm marked with a first harmonious melody, then, the title track of the album continue in this power and energy with the song 'Scott Balaban' wrapped with electronic effects in the first half and a final which falls back with some spiritual choirs. With 'Burning Alive' we are more in rhythmic rock with choirs which can recall certain sounds of the 80s and 'Line in the Sand', after a muscular introduction, alternates powerful parts and others quieter and can recall certain rhythm of 'RPWL', then, 'Dark Paradise' brings a break in the form of a ballad with a very effective chorus. The rest of the album scrolls through a catchy 'In Exile' which flirts with a peaceful rock type AOR, the mid-tempo 'Heading for The Stars' in crescendo which unfolds a beautiful melody and which is closer to the neo-progressive of 'RPWL' with a nice instrumental part, then, 'Broken Land' continues in this style with a powerful bass line, and, finally, 'The Trial' ends the album in a nice way with a long development of almost 9 minutes which contains different parts, first a calm introduction with a repetitive theme, then, an energetic part with many changes of rhythm and intensity and finally a much quieter instrumental part until the final decrescendo.
In summary, the Germans from 'Blind Ego' continue their journey under the leadership of 'Kalle Wallner' and release a very good album without copying 'RPWL' and 'Preaching to the Choir' is to be advised to a audience loving progressive music with sophisticated arrangements who like to mix rock and hard-rock... | |
